Iowa citizens get no extra libel protection

Tuesday, January 22, 2013 1:16 PM

A new ruling by the Iowa Supreme
Court extends libel protection to Internet publishers but not to average
citizens, The
Associated Press reported. A ruling
issued Friday extends the same free-speech protections given newspapers and
broadcasters to companies that distribute Internet content, such as book
publishers. However, the court did not extend those rights to individual social
media users, saying the victims of cyberbullying and online smear campaigns
should be able to more easily sue for defamation.